Book Review: Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by Donna Jo Napoli

Hush: An Irish Princess' Taleis the story of Melkorka, Irish princess (ha) who finds herself kidnapped and sold into slavery. She finds that her initial desire to not speak empowers her in the eyes of her captors. She must keep her silence or risk losing the only power she can have as a slave.

I thought this was a beautiful tale and very well-written and enchanting. Until near the end. I absolutely started to loathe it. The ending is not at all what I would have wanted. I thought Melkorka's changes were, if believable, somewhat dissatisfying. I assume Napoli followed the original tale in the ending, but think it would have been better served to deviate.

RATINGS:
s-factor: !
Perhaps a few, but not many.

mrg-factor: XXX
Beautiful female slave. She is only powerful for so long.

v-factor: ->
Slavery isn't pretty, ever.

Overall rating: **